Article of commerce and method of its production



Patented Sept. 2, 1930 UNIUTIED STATES STUART M. llEI-IIIilL lS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA ARTICLE or co MEncn iAivn No Drawing. Application filed Mayif 15',

. My invention consists in anew article of and fabrication, and in variability in composition and quality, to meet particular condi- 15 tions. A y

The article may be definedaccorfding to the manner of its production asa-porou's ceramic body, produced by burning a shapdmass of ceramic material mixed with a'combustible substance, the porous ceramic body being filled with another substance ap lied in liquid condition, and the product g hard, impervious, and, by proper selection ingredients susceptible to high polish, and

55 being relatively inert chemically. L

A typical procedure in the practice of the invention is as follows,Making choice. among ceramic materials available, I take Georgia kaolin, 35%; Tennessee ball clay, 20% ;-and feldspar,

terial suitable to correct shinkage,.as thelperamic art knows how to do. In this instance I take silica, And as a combustible substance I take sawdust, 10%. The sawdust is reduced to a condition termed wood flour. to such degree preferably as to pass through a 60-mesh sieve. The whole is worked with water to a suitable consistency, formed in a mold in usual manner, dried, and fired.

In firing the temperature rises slowly to, approximately, 1150 C, The fired article is porous, light, soft, and of chalky character, ,and may then easily be shaped. The fired article is impregnated with a material which when impregnation is effected is liquid, but which after impregnation gives to the article its desired dense and inert character. In this exemplary case I impregnate with sulphur, rendered fluid by'melting. Impregnaeing dense To thisI add ma- All the materials are'finely divided,

limitationwas; "aobncrion 923. Serial No; 278,046.

tion may be effected by, mere immersion; or it may be facilitatedandhastened by the known means of suction-and pressure.

"In 'pla'ce' of the particular ceramic body specified, a wide field of mixtures or bodies known to the ceramic art is. available. In pl'ace of sawdust, other combustibles are available; .cellulose, for example, cork, charcoal, coke, andy carbon in other forms. If capillary pores befi-desirable, to assist in impregnation, the otherwise powdered material may be mixed with hair as the combustible substance. H g

- In molding,.it will be desirable to make the article over siz e,: and-then after burning and before impregnation, theporous article may be dressed andmore minutely and exactly shaped. Herein lies a notable advantage in practicingthe invention, particularly when [the product is .to be employed in place of or as -asubstitute for-"so'a stone or other hard material. The porous ase body may with relative ease be shaped as -desired and thereafter by impregnationdensity hardness and other qualities may be imparted to it.

In place of an lmpregnatlng substance nor-- mally solid but rendered liquid by heat, the

substance may v.be rendered liquid by solution. For instance, akph'enol condensation fproduct'may be employed in a condition of solut ion. After f impregnation, the solvent may. by: evaporation escape, leaving the phe-' 1101 product in place, filling the pores of the fired base body. Other, impregnating substances which to'meet particular uses may be found desirable, are asphalt, and casein products.

Impregnation' may be of more sorts than one. For instance after the fired and porous base body has been prepared, it may be coat ed over a portion of its surface with paraifine,

submerged in a solution of a phenol condensation product, and allowed to remain sub merged for a suitable length of time, and the solution then will penetrate through the exposed surface inward to a relatively small but suflicient depth,-say a quarter of an inch. Atproper time the article may be re-' moved from the solution and the solvent may beallowed to evaporate. The parafline coating may then be removed, and the article then may be submerged again in molten sulphur, and all of the porous base body not already filled with the phenolproduct may then be filled with sulphur. Such compound impregnation may be resorted to, in order td mcetparticular conditions of service, or in order to effect economy,the more valuable" impregnating material or the material more sons preferable, may be applied over the surface ultimately to be exposed, and the cheaper material filling the porous body elsewhere.

Again, thepartial impregnation through one surface or through a desired portion of the entire, surface of the body may, without further treatment, afford an article suitable for particular uses. And the sopartially impregnated body will then be the finished product,subject, of course, to such finishing and polishing operations (if any) as has been a pore-filling substance.

indicated. i

The. finished article may still be cut, dressed, and polished.

I claim as my invention: 1.- A massive, coherent, inert article of laboratory furniture consisting of a porous base bodg of ceramic material, filled with another su stance solidified from molten state in its pores. i

difiicult of impregnatiombut for other readuoing a ceramic product which" consists in firing to a porous solida shaped blank formed of a ceramic clay mixed with combustible material, causing a filling substance in condition of -solution-to penetrate a portion of such blank, evaporating the solvent,

and causinganother substance in molten condition to penetrate another portion of the blank.

9'. The method herein described of producing a ceramic claywith wood flour, shaping the body of clay and firing it to a porous base body, covering the surface of the body in partwith a penetration excludin'g coverin partially impregnating by immersion the so ,preparedbody with a solution of a phenol condensationproduct, removing by evaporation the solvent, and immersing the article again with its previously covered surface uncovered, in a bath of molten sulphur.

In testimony whereof I- have hereunto set my'hand. y STUART PHELPS.

2. A new article of manufacture consistmg of a (porous bas'e bodyof ceramic mate: rial, fille with sulphur. v

3. A new article of manufacture consisting of a porous basebody" of ceramic material, impregnated-throughout part only of its thicknessand from the surface inwardly with 4. Anew article of manufacture consisting "of a porous base body; ofljceramic material with ajplurality' of stances. v

5. The method herein described of producing a ceramic product which consists in firing to a porous solid a shaped blank formed of ceramic clay mixed with combustible ma- 1 .terial,-re .shaping the product, and filling the stance in liquid condition.

6. The method herein described of producing a ceramic product which consistks in mixing a ceramic body With a combus ible substance, shaping the body and firing to a re-shaped product with animpregnating subporous solid, filling the pores of a portion only of such porous solid with an impregnatimpregnated throughout different portions lfferent pore-filling subing a' ceramic product which consists in mix- 

